Archive for the ‘Developing people’ category

Last week I had the honor of conducting a 5-day leadership, communication and presentation skills course for 25 senior managers at Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam. The group was fabulous. They were hungry for information to be better leaders and communicators. They embraced every exercise I asked them to do, no matter how uncomfortable it felt.

Now, more than ever before, you need to ensure every customer remains a happy customer, even when there is a problem. How your staff deal with problems and complaints will determine if that customer will return, buy more and/or tell others about their experience.

My seminar “Effective Customer Complaint Management: Customer Service Excellence Strategies for Driving Customer Satisfaction, Loyalty and Experience” is a comprehensive program and can be geared toward executives determining which data to gather and mine, to managers overseeing customer complaints, to the front line skills needed to calm down upset customers and turn them into satisfied, loyal customers.

Excellent service recovery will cement customer loyalty. Every organization has customer complaints. It’s how the complaint is managed that determines if the customer is satisfied and their loyalty solidified. Your employees can create astronomical customer retention or can drive your customers away. It all depends on how you approach complaint management.

Last summer, I read an article that stuck in my memory. It was about US Airways pilots who, because of the increase in fuel prices, were forced to take fuel-management courses if they ordered an extra few minutes of fuel for their flights.

One former Continental pilot Bruce Meyer, said he had to hide that
he was putting a safety cushion of fuel on board.

Then US Airways pilots took out an ad that said the airline “embarked on a program of intimidation to pressure your captain to reduce fuel loads.” Senior pilots — those who are well aware of the vagaries of flights — were targeted for (gasp!) fuel conservation training.

Stellar employees highly value enhancing their skills. Studies show that professional development is a key factor in attracting and retaining top talent. So what do you do if your professional development budget is slashed? You get creative. And we’ll help.

We’ve found a trend among out clients that most want to have regular learning experiences but also want staff to be away from their jobs for shorter time frames. Also they don’t like having to spend money on travel, even if the seminar or conference is relatively local.

Enter a development tool that many have yet to try — teleseminars! These are seminars over the phone. Teleseminars are the most cost- and time-effective way to provide professional development. In about an hour you can learn new ideas and create a development plan to increase your productivity and effectiveness.

These are different than webinars because you don’t have to be near your computer, just any phone. Enjoy learning from your desk or while away from your desk through the ease of a teleseminar. You can take our teleseminars at work, at home, in an airport, hotel room — wherever you and your phone are. They have the same audio components as a webinar but without the tech problems many webinars entail. Attendees still receive visuals in advance — PowerPoint slides and/or handouts — just print them and take them wherever you’ll be for the call.

And talk about time and cost effective — in under an hour, a teleseminar can focus on a key topic and even include lots of participant interaction. So the learner isn’t just listening to a lecture — they are sharing their experiences and deepening their thinking and understanding on a topic. They hear what others have to say about the topic that will help expand their perspective and options. And they walk away with an action plan to implement the ideas at work.

All this for a fraction of what it costs for in-person registration fees, travel expenses and lost productivity.

Come attend one of our monthly teleseminars. I’ve been conducting teleseminars for 15 years and have been called “one of the best teleseminar instructors in the world.” (Thanks mom!)

This 50- to 60-minute call will help customer service providers receive insights into their behaviors, but they will provide an action plan to integrate new skills.

We’re offering a special to entice you to experience our January 21 session — 50% off for the first 5 registrants.

While these programs are designed for front-line customer service providers, managers are welcome to attend.

January 21 teleseminar: “Assessing Your Customer Service Skills and Attitudes”

February 18 teleseminar: “How To Not Take Others’ Comments Personally”

Their job is to prevent any contraband from entering the US. But did these Customs officials have to be so darned surly in the process?

Some enforcement officers believe that they need to be human pit bulls and project an air that would have scofflaws cower. I beg to differ. I think one can be imposing while being respectful. These officials are the first impression many foreigners have of Americans on US turf. So why allow belittling behavior?(more…)

Are your staff putting themselves in your customers’ shoes, thinking through the customer experience? Does your staff help your customers save time, money and aggravation, rather than causing more of these?

Twice recently, with two different reps at my travel agency, I found they didn’t really understand the customer experience, so I ended up spending more time, money and hassle than necessary.